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General Information on Training Programmes

Before you apply

Applications for personal training awards are managed through the TCCi online application system. Potential applicants may register with TCCi to complete and edit their personal profile information at any time but will only be able to access the application form and guidance notes while the scheme is open.

All research funded as part of our training awards must fall within the NIHR remit.

Information on the numbers of applications received and funded for each past round of the personal awards can be found in a download opposite.

If you have any questions please contact the NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre on 0113 346 6260.

The NIHR application form has changed

The NIHR launched a streamlined application process for researchers applying for funding. In response to wide user feedback, and as part of the NIHR’s continuous improvement culture, we are making applying to NIHR for funding as simple as possible whilst retaining our commitment to research excellence. The streamlined, two-stage form was rolled out across NIHR research and training programmes from Summer 2017.

NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre is using an adapted version of the NIHR Standard Application Form (SAF) for training awards. The main differences are the inclusion of an extended CV and an updated training and development section.

A two-stage process will be used by the following schemes:

Fellowship Programme (Doctoral Research Fellowship, Post Doctoral Fellowship, Career Development Fellowship, Senior Research Fellowship, Transitional Research Fellowship and Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellowship)

Another main variation for the TCC SAF is when stage 2 will be submitted.

Doctoral-level awards: successful applicants will be asked to submit a stage 2 application after a shortlisting meeting has taken place.

Post-doctoral awards: successful applicants will be asked to submit a stage 2 application after peer review of applications has taken place.

Applicants should note that the information required by NIHR TCC at stage 1 will be more detailed than other NIHR Programmes due to the TCC stage 1 form being used for shortlisting and peer review.

The stage 2 application will allow applicants to provide a detailed budget, a separate PPI section, and a dedicated section for Management and Governance arrangements. Please note that feedback won’t be provided between stages 1 and 2 and therefore it will not be possible for applicants to revise their detailed research plan when they submit their stage 2 application.

To preview a template of the new Standard Application Form please see the 'TCC SAF stages 1&2 application form' in the Useful Documents section on the right hand side of this page.

We’ll be updating this page with further information and provisional dates in due course.

Information for existing trainees

Successful applicants are expected to adhere to several conditions of funding as part of their contract. Examples of the contract are located under downloads. More information is provided in the Guidance for NIHR Trainees, including:

The NIHR Trainee Meeting is an annual event, more details will be available in due course.

Contracts

In January 2017 the NIHR, along with a number of other funders of health research, set out a number of principles and obligations for UK institutions and clinical trainees in receipt of nationally competitive funding for clinical academic research training. As part of NIHR’s role to ensure institutions commit to these obligations, from April 2017 contracts for NIHR research training awards will require institutions to agree to a new clause which protects certain accrued employment rights. You can view these contracts under 'Useful Documents' on the right of this page. Contracts used for schemes launched before April 2017 are available on request from tcc@nihr.ac.uk.

Information for host organisations

Organisations that host our Fellowships enter into a contract with the Department of Health. Examples of these contracts are available to download on this page.